Episode two of The Leftovers, “Penguin One, Us Zero” was really part two of the pilot, and like the pilot, this episode was directed by Peter Berg, whose character didn’t make it out of the episode alive. While the pilot basically introduced the characters, the second episode introduced the mysteries beyond the rapture-like disappearance that will take up the rest of the season. It also introduced a lot of questions. Let’s break those down.
Kevin Garvey and the Mystery Man — The overriding question this week is if the Mystery Man actually exists, or if he’s a delusion of Kevin’s mind. Most people in the town think that it’s a delusion, that Kevin was shooting feral dogs on his own, and that maybe Kevin is going crazy, like his old man (Scott Glenn), who was institutionalized because he lost his sh*t, although Kevin Sr. claims that he didn’t lose his sh*t at all. He understands, however, why other people think he lost his sh*t.
Does the Mystery Man exist? On the one hand, it’s awfully weird that the Mystery Man’s truck would show up in Kevin’s driveway (with no tags or registration) with a dead dog in the back, and that no one else in the city could vouch for the presence of a bald man with a gun mowing down feral dogs. On the other hand, when he showed up at Kevin’s house at the end of the episode looking for a friend to shoot dogs with him, Kevin’s daughter Jill DID see and interact with the Mystery Man. So, he exists? Unless that entire sequence — including Jill — was a delusion? After all, Kevin does have a lot of very vivid dreams. Or maybe Kevin and Jill aren’t crazy, but they see things that others do not (Jill’s friend didn’t seem to acknowledge the Mystery Man). Maybe the Garvey family sees dead people. MAYBE THEIR SIXTH SENSING US ALL.
Whoever the Mystery Man is, he’s apparently been sent to Kevin by the crazy voices in the head of Kevin’s father, who seemed pretty sane to me (except for the conversation he was having with his imaginary friend). I thought it was even more interesting to find out that Kevin’s father was in a relationship with the Mayor, who it turns out is Kevin’s step-mom? That explains why Kevin gives so little deference to the mayor.
Anyway, Mystery Man (who is identified as “Dean” on IMDB) is either a much less appealing Tyler Durden than Brad Pitt, or Kevin is actually sane. And since there WAS a bagel in the toaster, that probably means that Kevin is right in the head. Unless he dreamed the bagels’ reappearance. Unless two percent of THE BAGELS are gone. WHERE DID ALL THE BAGELS GO?
What the F**k is Wayne Supposed to Be? — One of the other bigger questions is Wayne, the guru mystique who may or may not also have a thing for young Asian women and/or corpses. First of all, why the f*ck was he kissing Pete’s (Peter Berg) dead body? What was that all about? And why was Pete dead in a gas station, anyway? That was a really sloppy, poorly executed raid by the FBI to not only kill Pete, but unnecessarily mow through Wayne’s compound with machine guns. There had to be a better way. For God’s sake, they used to at least give everyone a chance to come out with their hands up before they threw open doors and began gunning people down.
Meanwhile, is Wayne really just a kook? Why is the Asian girl, Christine (Annie Q.) so important? Why has Tom been put in charge of protecting her? Where the f*ck is Wayne going? Does he actually have the power to rid people of their guilt? Or feelings of abandonment? Is Wayne just waiting for Tom to die before he makes a move on Tom?
Nora Durst Gotta Gun — There’s a few questions surrounding Nora Durst, the woman who lost both her children and her husband to the “Rapture.” Why is she carrying a gun? Why is she friends with Father Nutballs (Christopher Eccleston)? Why, of all people, does she work for the government asking questions of people before giving them their death benefit? Or maybe she doesn’t work for the government. Maybe her and Father Nutballs are working for a shadowy organization that gives checks to people to answer questions, and they’re using the answers to somehow find a connection between all the people who disappeared. I don’t think the connection is “People who had over 20 sexual partners.”
How is Jill connected to Nora, anyway? They seem to have a shared vibe of some sort.
Honestly, her friendly connection with Father Nutballs is the most intriguing question to me. Are they somehow involved? Working together? In cahoots? And I know we’re not expected to get an answer as to what was behind the sudden disappearance of all those people, but I wonder if we will get an answer to why those particular people were chosen. That’s just as interesting to me.
Who Do You Have To Blow To Get Into Guilty Remnant, Anyway? So, Guilty Remnant is not a “cult,” according to Laura. But it also doesn’t make it easy for the new recruits. Here’s what we know about GR, so far: They spook people to remind them of the departed. They smoke. They don’t speak. They apparently give up all their possessions, and they HATE TREES.
As for Meg? I don’t think she’s on the fence at all. I think she’s all in. I also think that Kevin’s The Wire-like obsession with The Guilty Remnant is going to break him in the brain, and that he sees some parallels between Meg and his wife, and he feels particularly driven to keep Meg from joining.
Also note that the light blue color continues to show up, including the sweater of Liv’s mother (who was raptured). Did the rapture take everyone who was wearing light blue shirts? OHMYGOD I SOLVED THE LEFTOVERS.
Perfect Strangers — Did the entire cast of Perfect Strangers really disappear in The Rapture? Because that’s depressing. I’m beginning to think that the Dance of Joy was behind this whole mess.
Look, I know some of you are anxious for something to happen in The Leftovers. Some of you may be a little bored by it, and some of you might have found the missing bagel metaphor a little heavy handed. But you’re just two episodes in, and those two episodes should’ve been ONE episode. Have a little patience. Stick with it one more episode. Right now, there’s still a lot of world building going on, and there’s still the matter of establishing the mysteries and the stakes. They need to establish those characters and forge a connection. Once the connection is established, then the show can mess with our emotions. That should start to happen next week.
What if the Guilty Remnant is a figment of all the Garvey’s imagination? What if the Garveys get together for a children’s birthday party, and find out that they’re actually attending their mother’s funeral? WHAT IF BRENDAN FRASER SHOWS UP AND DR. COX HAS A MELTDOWN?
